Nice
by nicfanz
Summary: Tess Tyler has always felt that the nice girls get everything in the end and that the mean girls always finish last. When Shane Grey finds her sitting on a dock, watching the sunset, will he prove her theory wrong or right? Shess. One-shot.


She sat on the wooden dock, her feet a few inches above the cool water. Placing her hands on top of the wood behind her, she watched the slow sunset and inhaled deeply. Tess Tyler closed her eyes and opened them a few seconds later. To her surprise, she did not feel anger or bitterness. She did not feel sorrow or deep disappointment. For the first time in a long time, she felt at peace.

She had messed up last night at Final Jam in front of hundreds of campers, who were off-springs of famous, powerful people. Despite that minor detail, she had made peace with her once enemy, Mitchie Torres. True, she had resented the girl for lying about her financial status and for stealing Shane Grey's attention. But after her disastrous performance last night, she figured there were more important things in the world than money and boys. So she did the one thing that she never thought she would do in her 16 years of life: she apologized. The popular and beautiful Tess Tyler had actually admitted that she was wrong. She guessed deep down, she had always known that what she did weren't the most morally upstanding of actions. Yet she did them anyway because she had to get what she wanted.

Tess smiled softly as she thought of the others' reactions when they saw her apologize to Mitchie. Their mouths were agape in shock. After the shock wore off, some of them had smiled at her. Some had looked at her with a new found sense of respect. It was like they had liked her better because she was nice, better than when she was just the mean, rich girl. Was being nice that rewarding? Her mother had taught her that to get what she want, she must resort to any tactics necessary. There was also the saying that went: the nice guy always finishes last. So why did everyone like the Mitchie girl? Why did Shane fall for her? One answer automatically popped into her mind: because she was nice.

She laughed bitterly as she threw a pebble into the lake; so all these years of her perfecting the ice queen character was a waste as it did not get her anywhere. It did not make her any real friends. It did not get her mother's love. And lastly, it did not get his attention, his heart. But if she had known that being nice would have gotten her all of these things, would she have acted differently? Would she have sat next to the poor, nerdy girl at lunch? Would she have complimented someone even if she or he was singing off key and stumbling on the stage? She wasn't sure but she knew of one thing: she would have been better.

She sat up straighter and put her chin on her knees, looking at the beautiful sunset. She wondered if it was too late to change. After all, she spent 16 years being the way she was. Maybe the ice cold persona was ingrained in her for too long that she could never go back. ''Maybe I've been mean for so long that that's who I'll always be,'' she muttered softly to herself.

''It's never too late to change.''

The voice behind her startled her and she quickly looked back. ''Shane?''

He smiled and sat down next to her. His feet touched the water below as he was a couple of inches taller than her. ''I hope you don't mind having another guest,'' he said sheepishly.

''What are you doing here?'' She almost cringed at her blunt tone. She did not mean to be rude but she was just shocked from his presence.

''Mitchie is off doing her nails with Caitlyn so I decided to walk around a bit. Then I saw you here,'' he replied with a nonchalant shrug. ''What are you doing here?'' he threw the question back at her.

She glanced away from him and looked at the sunset again. ''Just admiring the sunset,'' she answered simply, letting the breeze blow her hair away from her face.

Shane grinned. ''I never took you as someone who likes the sunset.''

She looked back at him. ''Because I'm not all happy and smiling like Mitchie that I cannot possibly like sunsets?'' She cast her eyes toward the water. Of all the people that made presumptions about her, he was the one that hurt the most.

His eyes widened and he opened his mouth in protest. ''N-no,'' he sputtered, ''That's not what I meant at all.'' He made the wooden the dock the focal point of his attention and she knew he was trying hard to deny his honest opinion.

She smiled bitterly. ''That's okay. You're not the first one and probably you won't be the last. Everyone always see me as this mean girl, who makes fun of those that has less than me. They see me as someone who only associates with the popular crowd, the one that would do anything to get what she wants. And you know what? I don't blame them. Because it's true. I shunned Mitchie when I found out she was a cook's daughter. I planted my bracelet in Mitchie's cabin so Brown would think that she stole it and be banned from Final Jam. Why? Because I knew she was the girl you were looking for and I was scared. But you found her anyway. You know why? Because the nice girl gets everything in the end.''

Shane rose an eyebrow in interest and said, ''Oh?''

Tess continued to ramble. ''In _High School Musical_, Gabriella got the hot, popular guy because she was nice. Sharpay got rejected and didn't even get to sing with Troy in part two because she wasn't. Don't you see? In the movie world, in the perfect world, in the _real_ world, the nice girl gets the guy, the people's love, _everything_. The mean, ice queen always gets what she deserves; and that's nothing. I'm living proof of it, '' she said quietly, kicking her feet above the water.

Shane scooted closer to her and leaned his face closer to hers. ''You really think you have nothing?''

She wiped a few tears from her eyes. ''I know I don't. I don't have friends. I don't have a mom. I don't even have the one person I wanted. I'm Sharpay to Mitchie's Gabriella. I lost.'' She stood up to walk back to her cabin when he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him.

''You say the guy only likes the nice girl. Well, you're right.''

Shane leaned in to kiss her; his lips were planted on hers a few seconds before departing. She stared at him in shock. She wondered if he was sleepwalking and maybe he thought she was Mitchie. ''I'm Tess,'' she reminded him.

Shane chuckled. ''I know and I'm Shane.''

''B-but you're supposed to like Mitchie. That's how it always is,'' she protested, feeling confused yet happy at the same time.

''Maybe I wanted a different ending.'' He gently grabbed her chin and leaned in to capture her lips once more.

Maybe she wasn't the nice that girl that Mitchie was and she probably will never be like her. But Shane Grey saw the real her and liked her the way she was.


End file.
